Friday we were up early to catch the fast train from Xi’an to Beijing. The station was more like an airport and as we were travelling business class we spent a short while in a busy lounge. No time to relax though, the trains apparently allow passengers three minutes to get on and off. Y says she’s seen people miss the train because they hadn’t finished their cigarette (not allowed on the train but ok in the stations so they all jump off as soon as the train stops). Interestingly, there was a chap next to us on the platform in what looked like a pilot’s uniform waiting to get on: he was the new driver. The old one got off then stood and saluted us out of the station. Wonderful to see them take such pride in the job.

We managed to embark safely with all our luggage and what was left of the birthday cake in the allocated three minutes then relaxed for the four-hour journey. I’m not sure why I was chosen, but this was my lunch: the other three had boring old rice. The train started from Chengdu, where there is a panda conservation area, which must have been the relevance. The black bits were seaweed.

We arrived in Beijing mid-afternoon and sorted ourselves out before dinner. The hotel was impressive, with a statue at the entrance. JD asked if it was Darth Vader. I was amazed he’d even heard of him, let alone know what he looked like, but we had to disappoint JD by telling him it was Confucius (and hope we wouldn’t be deported for being disrespectful).

We unpacked then wandered down to the in-house restaurant without realising it had a Michelin star. Not only was the food outstanding but they gave us a private room.

G&Y had work to do afterwards, so JD and I repaired to the bar and tried a glass of Chinese champagne (that’s what they called it). Then it all got very exciting, a film crew arrived and started taking shots of the barman making cocktails. Apparently a promotional photo or two for the hotel. Sadly, without Western visitors.

Saturday: not quite such an early start. We had a car up to the Great Wall site at Mutianyu, where we caught a cable car. Despite that, there was a fair bit of climbing steps, thankfully not a hot day. Only two (I think) sections of the Great Wall have been restored for visitors, this was further out of Beijing so less popular and not too crowded. I didn’t go as far as the other three, way too many steps in all directions, but they walked towers 13 to 17. I felt more than happy to have got onto the Wall itself. We were able to declare ourselves heroes.

On the drive back to the hotel we went past the Olympic 2008 site and saw the Birds Nest and swimming centre. There we did see crowds, not looking at the iconic view, but flooding into a concert of some Chinese pop star, hence the fencing in front of the iconic Birds Nest. It was difficult to get any decent photos due to this. On the way we saw a Seven-star hotel and are still trying to work out exactly what extras it offered to become one: your own personal butler maybe?

For the evening, we went to a restaurant hidden away in a shopping mall, specialising in Peking Duck. I’m not sure why it hasn’t been renamed Beijing Duck? Yet another wonderful repast of different dishes. Then up to a bar at the top of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, overlooking the Forbidden City, parts of it lit up.

On Sunday we went to the Summer Palace. You might not have heard of it, a large lake with (as usual) amazing sights around. Another Unesco site (sight), built for the Qing Emperor Qianlong between 1750 and 1764, consisting of gardens, halls and pavilions. It was destroyed during the Second Opium War (I really must get a book) then reconstructed for the Empress Cixi. It was damaged again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 (another bit of history to learn about), restored and became a public park in 1924. There was one that could have been meant for me. Or am I delusional?

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/880/

Again, it was not too busy, but full of school trips. There was a public holiday on May 1st (International Labour Day, adopted by China in 2000 as a way to encourage people to go out and spend) which meant that the schools were ‘open’ on Sunday. Obviously the teachers didn’t want to teach so they took the kids out. The younger ones were walking obediently along in a crocodile. One group had obviously been learning English as they all said ‘hello’ and ‘nice to meet you’. As each year group is well over 100 kids, we said hello a lot! The older ones (schoolchildren, not teachers) had hired boats and were playing dodgem cars.

We also saw a good example of copycat clothing: Natal Fact (instead of North Face).

We hired a boat and JD was once again captain of all. He navigated us successfully through the Seventeen Arch Bridge, with no dodgem antics.

That evening we went to dinner with one of Y’s cousins in a typical Beijing restaurant. We had duck again, but very different dishes otherwise, including a fish head soup with bread chopped into the soup.

We’d been given two big boxes of local cakes by him: one was crammed full, it would have taken us about a week to eat them all. The other was beautifully presented and it seemed a pity to disturb them.

On Monday we had tickets to go into the Great Hall of the People, built in 1958 to celebrate ten years of the Chinese Communist Party.

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tiananmen-square/people-great-hall.htm

The taxi took ages as the traffic was pretty much at a standstill, with barriers across all the pavements. When we got to the correct block, there were soldiers, police and civil servants marching around.

We managed to find somewhere for the taxi to drop us off, then asked a policeman what was happening. He wasn’t really sure, other than the Great Hall was closed for a meeting. He thought it might open at noon, 20 minutes after we arrived. We hung around the entrance until half past twelve, then cut our losses, returned to the hotel and had a coffee. G had the most extraordinary drink, a coffee with tonic. I resisted trying it.

Y cycled off to see if she could find out whether we could get in later. (The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are separated by a wide road: you can drive or cycle but not walk past, even though there is a path). No joy, so we had a relaxing afternoon, an early dinner then off to the Concert Hall of Performing Arts to see the Tianjin Juilliard orchestra play Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Thankfully G went with us to pick up our tickets, as my Mandarin would never have coped. The supposed wheelchair access did not seem to exist (possibly through the underground car park?) but the steps were so shallow we managed to get inside. It was an energetic performance: part of the music always reminds me of the 1940 Disney Fantasia film, with the dinosaurs trudging across the increasingly dry landscape. I loved that film when I was young, so much so that it was the first CD I bought when I acquired a CD player. Maybe I should subscribe to the Disney channel, I assume all the Disney films will be available there? The original 101 Dalmatians? Bedknobs and Broomsticks? I’m know I could spend a week or two reliving my childhood. Meanwhile watch the dinosaurs. (I’ve managed to avoid giving you the link to Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours, with the crocodiles and hippos. Find it yourself).

We felt very proud as we managed to get a cab all by ourselves after the performance, and eventually arrived at the correct hotel. My accent obviously needs a bit of work still.

It’s obviously not possible to go to Beijing and miss the Forbidden City (yet another UNESCO site). We were able to see the Forbidden City from our room (if you knew where to look).

G arranged a really good guide for us who had worked on cruise ships and not only had excellent English but great enthusiasm for the job. There you will see young women (and men) dressing up: we couldn’t tell, but Larry said you often saw different dynasties together. A bit like Medieval and Victorian, I guess. These two look the same era to me.

The Forbidden City took 14 years to build (1406 to 1420) and was the Imperial Palace for 492 years (1420 to 1912). In that time there were 24 Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty: the emperor kept it for himself, his staff, official visitors, his wife and his concubines. It’s fortified with a moat and walls, covers 180 acres, and is built on a North South axis. It has four gates, one on each side: the South Gate lines up with Tiananmen Square and the North Gate with the Pavilion of Everlasting Spring in Jingshan Park.

This axis lines up with the North Star, whose position in the sky never changes and is where they believed God was living in 10,000 rooms. The emperor could not compete with God, so the Forbidden City was built with only 9,999 and a half rooms. I don’t know how you get half a room and I’ve not managed to find an explanation: incomplete walls? The roof edges had figurines on them, up to ten, and we were told that the number of figures demonstrated how important that building and its occupants were.

We took a taxi direct from there to the airport, ready for a very early flight in the morning. Thursday was 1st May, a national holiday, so the roads were horrendously busy. What should have been 45 minutes took almost two hours. The airport hotel was massive, with a library, gift shop, robot cleaner and another food delivery, although not as pretty as the previous one. JD and Y followed it into the lift and along the hotel corridors: at one stage it turned and told them off! Good security but scary.

And off to our next destination: Dongbei (the North East). This won’t take so long to post or you’ll be reading about China in July!